Coin container



Oct 8, 1957 J. J. ORIELLY 2,808,925

com CONTAINER Filed Jan, 22. 1954 JOHN J. OR/ELL y,

INVENTOR.

@Uf/mm;

ATTORNEY.

United States Patent Oilice 2,808,925 Patented Oct. 8, 1957 COIN CCNTAiINER John J. ORielly, Los Angeles,. Calif. Application January 22,' 195i, Serial Nor 405,600t 2..,Claims..V (Cl..206-,.82)

The inventionY relates toa coin?` container and more particularly.toay conminerfor a rel-l o6 coins as used in banking practice.

Heretoiore it has been customary to package a roll of coins in a paper container. This has the disadvantage thatthe paper container does not have. enough strength to prevent the container from breaking, for example, when handling or transporting money bags containing a plurality of such containers. If one were to drop a money bagrtcontaming coins packagediim'paper containers, it has been found that the containers will break which results in the inconvenience and expense of finding, sorting and repackaging the spilled coins.

An object of the invention is to provide a coin container which is much stronger than the paper container used heretofore and which will withstand handling and transporting without breakage, while being in a form which permits the container to be readily refilled for repeated use.

This is accomplished by providing a container of tough ilexible material such as plastic or rubber material and in a form suitable for molding. The container preferably is provided with a ridge forming an end wall or stop for the coin roll, the container being flexible to permit a lock ring to be mounted on the container, the flexibility also permitting the container to be spread, with the lock ring out of position, so that the container can be filled with the coins, whereupon the lock ring is moved into locking position.

The container may be made of various lengths and diameters for coin rolls of different heights and for coins of different denominations.

Also, the lock ring may be made of a distinctive color, diierent colors being used for coins of different denominations.

The invention also provides a spreader in the form of an attachment for the lling tube of the usual machine employed for filling coin containers.

For further details of the invention, reference may be made to the drawings wherein Fig. l is an exploded perspective view of the coin container and its lock ring.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the container of Fig. 1 filled with coins shown in broken lines and with the lock ring in locking position.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the container of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the lock ring.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view corresponding to Fig. 2, with the bottom of the container broken away and with the coins omitted to show the locking feature of the lock rmg.

Fig. 6 is a view in vertical elevation of a spreader for the container of the other gures, showing the lock ring out of locking position and with parts broken away.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the coin container comprises a cylindrical container 1 and its lock ring 2. The container 1 is a molding of tough flexible plastic material such as poly-ethylene. While this material is flexible, it has very-little resilience: As shown in Fig; 2, the container'l has arr insidey diameterwhich is uniform as indicated at 3 anda side wall 4 which tapers out in-an upwardV direction, beingv thicker at the top` than at the bottom. The bottom of the containerhas an inturned edge 5 with an opening 6 which is'smaller than the coins in the roll indicated at 7.

The top of ther container has ya plurality of bayonet slots, three-being shown as indicated atS, 9 and' l0. As each of these slots isthef same"inconstruction,` only one will be described in detail. For example slot 8 is'quite long and extends into the. container.'M for example forn a length'of 1.15 in., the side wall of this slot havinga 1 taper and terminating in an end stop wall 12. The other side wall indicated at 13 is shorter and also has a 1 taper to the point indicated at 14 where it is offset to: providea lock shoulder 15 having a 10* taper, for one of the. lugs such as 16 on the lock ring 2. The rim 17 at the top. of the container is thus interrupted byV the three slots 8, 9" and 10 into three similar segments 18, 19 and 20. Each segment has an outer shoulder like 21, see Fig., 2', against which the internal shoulder 22 onn the lockv ring is adapted to abut when the Ylock ring-is in lockingjposition as shown in Fig. 2. Each segment 18 to 20f'als`o has a tapering end wall as shown at 23 which terminates in an inwardly extending stop flange 24 of smaller internal diameter than the coins in the roll 7. Flange 24 overhangs and serves as an abutment for the end coin 2S when the lock ring 2 is in locking position.

The lock ring 2 has a lug like 16 for each of the bayonet slots 8 to 10. The lock ring 2 is a molding of non-brittle plastic material which may be of vinyl type and this may be in a color assigned to coins of a particular denomination.

To facilitate the draft of the die or mold or its parts, the outside of the segments 18 to 20 tapers in a downward direction and the side like 11 of each slot 8 to 10 has a slight taper. Also the outside 28 of the lock ring 2, see Fig. 4, tapers in an amount such as l in a downward direction, while the outer portion 26 of the inside wall tapers in upwardly 4 above shoulder 22 while the inner portion 27 of the inside wall has a l taper and also the bottoms of lugs like 16 have a 10 taper to match the taper of the shoulders like 15.

The slots 8 to 10 divide the outer end of the container 1 into corresponding similar container segments 35, 36 and 37. Each of the container segments 35 to 37 is exible with little or no elasticity or stilfness and hence little or no inherent tendency to assume the cylindrical form shown, being held in this tubular form by the lock ring 2 which clamps these segments against the solid contents formed by the coin roll 7. The lock ring 2 is assembled onto the container 1 by compressing the upper slotted portion of the container, to pass the ring 2 over the top of the container 1 so that each of the lugs like 16 will enter one of the slots 8 to 10, each lug can finally come to rest at the wall like 12 at the end of the full length of the slot, as shown in Fig. 6. The filling tube of a conventional coin machine is indicated at 30 in Fig. 6. To this is secured a spreader attachment 31 having a socket 32 to receive the end of tube 30 and being secured in position by solder or welding as indicated at 33. Around bore 38 the spreader 31 has a conical cam downwardly facing spreader face 34 having the same taper as taper 23 at the outer end of container 1. Spreader 31 has a bore 38 at its outer end and having a diameter the same as the internal diameter of the filling or supply tube 30. Around the spreader face 34 the spreader 31 has a skirt 39 which centers container 1 and limits the outward spreading movement of the segments 35 to 37.

By pushing the container 1 upwardly, with lock ring 2 1n its downward position, the slotted end of container 1 is spread apart so that the stop ange 24 will be pushed aside sufliciently to permit the coins to pass from the filler tube 30 into container 1. The machine not shown delivers a counted roll of coins having a height which is slightly less than the distance from the inside of shoulder S to the inside of the ange 24. After the stack of coins has been fed into the container 1, the container 1 is separated from the spreader, and the lock ring 2 is moved upwardly until shoulder 22 on lock ring 2 engages the shoulder 21 on the container and the lock ring 2 is rotated so that each lug like 16 will be supported and locked by the bayonet slot or shoulder like 16.

When it is desired to empty the container, the lock ring 2 is moved out of locking position to the bottom of slots 8 to 10 as shown in Fig. 6, and the container segments 35 to 37 can be spread by hand or otherwise to push the stop ange 24 out of the way so that the container can be emptied.

Broad claims to a container having a tiexible end stop ange are being made in co-pendiug application Serial No. 458,640, tiled September 27, 1954, for Coin Con tainer.

Various other modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A coin container comprising a unitary cylindrical molding of exible material, said container having a bottom having an inturned stop wall, said container having an outer end having a plurality of longitudinally extending bayonet slots dividing the container into iiexible container segments each having an outer end having an inwardly extending stop flange, a bayonet lock ring having lugs for said slots, said container segments being compressible to a size small enough to permit passing said ring over the outer end of said container, the outer ends of said segments and the inside of said ring having cooperating shoulders preventng removal of said ring from the outer end of said container when said segments are in normal uncompressed position, said segments being expansible against said lock ring with said anges in position to act as a stop for a solid filling for said container.

2. A coin container according to claim 1, said lock ring and its said lugs comprising a unitary molding.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,084,569 Batdorf Jan. 13, 1914 1,919,963 Smith July 25, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 113,458 Switzerland Mar. 17, 1926 

